Read about Boston's Hanseatic past

A new booklet has been published to mark Boston rejoining the Hanseatic League (Die Hanse) after a 700-year absence.

Historian Pamela Cawthorne, who helped with Boston's Hanse application, has written "Rediscovering England's Hanseatic Heritage: Medieval Boston", now available at Waterstone's book shop, £4.

Boston is the newest Hanseatic town. It rejoined towns and cities in the Hanseatic League in 2015. Die Hanse hopes to create cultural and business alliances with cities around the North and Baltic Seas.

Pamela's booklet tells of Boston's original Hanseatic connections as a trading partner with Hanseatic League countries in medieval times, with much of its early prosperity gained from the trade it enjoyed from across the North Sea.

She describes how this overseas trade in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries saw rapid growth in the east coast towns making them the wealthiest in England and second only to London.

Wealth in Boston was built on wool exports, but there was conspicuous trade in other commodities, such as cloth, wine, furs, spices and even falcons.

The booklet includes an account of the busy quayside scene in Boston in the early 1390s describing The Haven as crowded with ships (Hanseatic cogs among them) supplied by a steady stream of carts piled high with wool and crammed into the local roads, vibrant with foreign voices.

Boston's St Botolph's Church (the Stump), the still-visible layout of the medieval town, the Dominican Friary (Blackfriars) the Guildhall and the town's world-famous fairs are all featured for their Hanseatic connections along with similar connections in King's Lynn, another Wash port with Die Hanse in its DNA.

The booklet also outlines the decline in trade and Boston's "sore decay". It details a medieval trail around Boston, taking in all sites with Hanseatic connections and comes with detailed descriptions for each site.

In addition Pamela has co-written with five other scholars the book "Six Essays in Hanseatic History". It is available from Poppyland Publishing - www.poppyland.co.uk